During this week’s meeting, members of Girl Scout Troop 17080 were awarded with special new badges and a round of applause from Town Council for their contribution to Basalt’s Safe Routes to School project.
Since 2022, the Town of Basalt has been investigating ways to improve sidewalks and pedestrian crossings around Two Rivers Road, Cottonwood Drive and the Emma Bridge to make the area safer for students walking to and from Basalt Elementary and Middle schools. As part of its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, local planning firm Design Workshop dedicated a day to working with members of Troop 17080 who brainstormed creative, colorful solutions to make the busy pedestrian intersection more fun and safe. That year, the Town implemented the Girl Scout’s feedback with the temporary installation of rainbow crosswalks and bollards.
In August of this year, Basalt received a $573,200 grant from the Colorado Department of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School program for the construction of permanent features implementing more of the Girl Scouts’ feedback.
The project is planned to be completed in two phases. The first phase includes a redesign of the Emma Bridge surface and is currently out to bid for construction. After investigation, town staff found that the current planters on Emma Bridge are unlined and have eroded the concrete below them and now the planters and the bridge surface alike need replacement. Parents of students at Basalt schools volunteered to save some of the vegetation in the planters and replant them on school grounds.
The more comprehensive second phase of the project includes the construction of continuous bike lanes, more accessible and visible sidewalks, improved signage and pedestrian level lighting and new drainage elements. The second phase is currently in its final design period. During the meeting, Council unanimously approved easement agreements with Roaring Fork Fire Rescue Station 41 and 7-Eleven.
In recognition of their contribution to making Basalt a safer place, Town Council distributed one-of-a-kind Two Rivers Road Improvement badges to members of Troop 17080 to affix to their sashes.
EJ Crossing
Council was asked to draft a referral letter to Eagle County for an application to construct a 20-acre, 111-unit workforce housing community located northwest of the El Jebel Road and Highway 82 intersection. Representatives of the applicant, Aspen One and Crawford Properties, LLC, came forth to present their proposal.
Titled EJ Crossing, the property for the development project is located in unincorporated Eagle County yet still within Basalt’s Three Mile Planning and Urban Growth Boundary as well as its 2020 Master Plan future land use map. The proposed development includes 14 deed-restricted units price capped at 80% to 100% of the area median income. Due to its location in unincorporated Eagle County, the property is not subject to Basalt’s housing guidelines. However, because the housing community will rely on Basalt infrastructure, the Town requested changes to the project to make it more in line with its code.
The project’s proposed density of 5.45 dwelling units per acre is below the property’s designated residential density of 6 to 11.9 dwelling units per acre. The Town of Basalt recommended that the number of dwelling units be raised to between 122 and 242 in order to fall within the density range designated by the property’s location in Basalt’s urban growth boundary.
In addition, Basalt recommended that the proportion of deed-restricted housing be at least doubled from 12.6% to a minimum of 25% to be in line with Basalt’s housing mitigation code.
Town Council was not required to sign an ordinance during this hearing or take any action other than decide on a referral letter for the project.
Councilors Richard Stevens, Dieter Schindler and Hannah Berman abstained from the motion at the request of the applicant due to potential conflicts of interest with Aspen One. The referral letter, with requested changes, was approved by the remaining councilors with the exception of Councilor Ryan Slack, who argued that the area is reaching its limits for how many commuters it can support.